Salva Kiir - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

South Sudan: some spoilers want peace to fail, putting 2024 elections at risk

SOUTH Sudan is expected to hold its first general election in December 2024. It became an independent state in 2011. The long overdue election is one of the pillars of a peace agreement signed in 2018. It helped end the 2013-2018 civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions. EDGAR GITHUA, Lecturer in International Studies, Strathmore University Since then, the country has progressed in relative peace, with fewer incidences of conflict reported between 2018 and 2023. However, UN experts have voiced concerns about the likelihood of elections being held within agreed timelines. The election has been slated for…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

South Sudan president appoints own defence minister, breaching peace deal

NEWS

WAAKHE WUDU SOUTH Sudan's President Salva Kiir has appointed a member of his own party as defence minister, according to a decree read on state media, breaching a peace deal in which the role should be selected by the party of opposition leader Riek Machar. Kiir fired defence minister Angelina Teny, who is also First Vice President Machar's wife, along with the interior minister this month, re-igniting long-standing disagreements over how the two war veterans share power. Kiir and Machar's forces signed a peace agreement in 2018 that ended five years of civil war that killed 400,000 people and triggered Africa's biggest…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

South Sudan president holds ‘frank deliberations’ with vice president

NEWS

SOUTH Sudan President Salva Kiir held "frank deliberations" with opposition leader First Vice President Riek Machar on Friday, the minister of presidential affairs said, a week after Kiir breached a peace agreement by sacking two top security ministers. The meeting was held in a collegial spirit but ended in deadlock, Machar's office said in a statement. Kiir fired defence minister Angelina Teny, who is also Machar's wife, and interior minister Mahmoud Solomon last Friday moves that threaten to unravel a fragile peace agreement that ended the 2013-18 civil war. The president also handed the defence ministry to his party, a role which,…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

South Sudan president dismisses foreign minister without explanation

NEWS

SOUTH Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked the foreign minister, the president's spokesperson said, less than a week after the dismissal of the ministers of defence and interior and he did not provide an explanation. Foreign minister Mayiik Ayii is a close ally of Kiir and previously served as the minister of the president's office. It wasn't immediately clear if Ayii's termination was linked to those of the defence and interior, which have threatened to destroy a fragile peace deal with opposition leader First Vice President Riek Machar. "It's a normal business. People can be relieved and replaced," Kiir's spokesperson Lily Martin…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

South Sudan president fires two ministers

NEWS

SOUTH Sudan President Salva Kiir has sacked two top security ministers, violating the terms of a peace agreement with opposition party leader First Vice President Riek Machar. Kiir fired the country's defence minister Angelina Teny, who is also Machar's wife, and interior minister Mahmoud Solomon in a presidential order read on state TV late on Friday, Lily Martin Manyiel, the President's spokesperson said on Saturday. "There is no reason I can give you right now" for their sacking but "it's a normal procedure usually," Manyiel said, adding that no decision had yet been made on their replacements. Kiir and Machar's…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

South Sudan President integrates rival’s officers into army

NEWS

SOUTH Sudan President Salva Kiir ordered military officers loyal to his vice president, Riek Machar, to be officially integrated into a unified command of the army, state media said, a central pillar of the peace process. Kiir and Machar's forces signed a peace agreement in 2018 that ended five years of civil war. But implementation has been slow and the opposing forces have clashed frequently over disagreements about how to share power. Fighting has flared in recent weeks. Following pressure from donors and international partners, the two men met on April 8 and Machar submitted a list of officers to…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

‘South Sudan’s VP Machar ousted as party head’

NEWS

DENIS DUMO SOUTH Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar has been deposed as head of his party and its armed forces, rival military leaders have said, a move that could pressure an already fragile peace process. Machar played a major role in pushing his partner, President Salva Kiir, to a peace deal in 2018 and in the subsequent formation of a unity government following years of civil war. But he was stripped of party posts after a three-day meeting of senior leaders of his SPLM/A-IO movement who accused him of undermining reforms and giving family members strategic posts, said a statement…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

South Sudan parliament dissolved

NEWS

SOUTH Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dissolved parliament, a long-awaited step to pave the way for the appointment of lawmakers from formerly warring parties in the country. The move was in line with a peace deal signed to end a civil war that began in 2013. The president dissolved parliament on Saturday and the new body will be formed in "a matter of time, not too long", his spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told Reuters. According to the deal that ended the civil war, parliament must be expanded from 400 members to 550 and must include members from all parties to…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

South Sudan president replaces finance minister

BUSINESS

SOUTH Sudan President Salva Kiir has removed the country's finance minister Salvatore Garang from office, replacing him with Athian Ding Athian, state television has reported. Kiir, who did not give a reason for the change, also replaced the head of state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation, Chol Deng Abel with Bol Ring Morwel, the broadcaster said. In another move, the president appointed a new acting head of South Sudan's tax collection agency. The oil producing nation, which has suffered five years of civil war since becoming independent in 2011, has not paid its workers for five months, a senior lawmaker told Reuters,…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Prominent South Sudan critic says government sent hit squad for him; Juba denies

NEWS

ARSHAD MOHAMMED and JULIO -CESAR CHAVEZ A prominent South Sudanese economist fled to the United States on Thursday and accused South Sudan's President Salva Kiir of ordering a hit squad to kill or kidnap him in Kenya, an allegation immediately denied by the Juba government. Peter Biar Ajak landed at Dulles Airport outside Washington with his wife and three small children after travelling from Nairobi. He told Reuters that top South Sudanese officials whom he declined to identify had warned him that Kiir had ordered a team to abduct or murder him in the Kenyan capital. Ajak said SUVs with…